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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Mar 13, 2010 11:58:38 GMT -5
The area held no particular meaning to the silverette, other than the place he'd met a certain brunette, but the plaza seemed to have made itself a permanent visiting spot in Gilbert's life. Every night he would make his way down the cobblestone streets and settle himself on the fountain and pull out his violin or flute. Music would soon follow after for several hours before he'd finally pack up and return home, only to repeat the same schedule the following night. The habit had been going on for almost several weeks now, ever since he'd met Roderich, something about the plaza that called out to him and kept urging him to return.
Something was meant to happen there; something that hadn't yet happened. He knew it, he just didn't know what it was that was supposed to happen. Thus, he returned, every night, without fail, and waited. More often than not, several small yellow birds that he couldn't figure out the origin of would gather at his feet or rest on his shoulder's and head, but he never complained. While the birds had a bizarre habit of showing up randomly, their presence was not at all unwelcome.
What am I waiting for...? Gilbert wondered to himself as he stood on the edge of the fountain, violin raised as he played. His cloak billowed around his slim figure as his hair blew freely in the breeze. He'd left his hat at home tonight, and one of the small chicks had quickly taken advantage of that, settling itself on top of the Prussian's silver hair. Why do I keep coming back?
----- A/N: Ignore the piano for now, obviously~
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Post by Ludwig Weillschmidt on Mar 17, 2010 15:07:24 GMT -5
Just one more night, Ludwig promised himself as he sat on the edge of the fountain, chin resting in his hands. I'll only stay for one more night, and then I'll leave. But, somehow, he didn't believe it. He'd been promising himself that very same thing for almost a month, now, and he couldn't understand why he hadn't left yet. he hadn't found Gilbert here, so why hadn't he gone somewhere else to continue his search? Why was he tying himself to this place?
He couldn't explain it, but he felt as though there was something that needed to happen here before he left. He didn't know what that "something" was, but he somehow knew that he needed to be here for it. That was the whole reason he was out tonight, in the plaza. He didn't usually go out at night, but he felt as though whatever was going to happen would happen tonight, so he had to come.
As he waited, he couldn't prevent his mind from drifting to thoughts of his brother. Ludwig had searched for him for what seemed like an eternity, but he hadn't given up hope. he would find Gilbert. he had to...
"Ich vermisse dich, mein Bruder," he murmured wistfully.
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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Mar 17, 2010 15:28:21 GMT -5
Note after note, Gilbert played each flawlessly and felt his mood sink lower and lower. His mind kept drifting back to the past, images of himself and a boy a few inches smaller than him with bright sapphire eyes running around a grassy backyard playing before his eyes. It was useless to think about, really, by this time, Ludwig would have been long-since dead and had likely forgotten about him shortly after he left. He'd done his best to sneak letters out to his little brother after being captured, but several sheets of paper filled with promises and affection between brothers every other week could only do so much, and by the time he hit fourteen, he'd been forced to stop after being caught by his main captor.
Was he happy? Was he healthy? Did he miss me? Was he upset? Did he hate me? Did he read the letters? Did he even remember who I was? For years and even now, question after question would shoot through Gilbert's mind, longing for answers he'd never get. Ludwig, his beloved little brother, had been the only person in his family that he'd ever cared about, and the one reason he'd hesitated when it came to running away. Even if it was only for a few minutes, he'd have given up his immortal life a long time ago, just to see his brother again, to apologize for leaving and beg for forgiveness for all he'd done.
"...Are you watching me?" he asked the sky quietly, a sad expression in his crimson eyes. "Are you up there with the old man, Ludwig? Are you ashamed? Angry? I couldn't blame you... I..." he trailed off, jumping to his feet. His violin was discarded to the edge of the fountain and sword drawn. "...Who's there?" he snapped in a sharp tone. "Show yourself! I can hear you... Don't try to hide."
-------- A/N: *giggle* For the record, the title of the post means "I miss you, my little brother..." *but knows what you meant and still d'dawed*
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Post by Ludwig Weillschmidt on Mar 21, 2010 19:11:12 GMT -5
"Gilbert," Ludwig sighed, reaching into his bag and pulling out several yellowed sheets of parchment and leafing through them for what was probably the millionth time. Still, the familiar words filled him with the same joy and sadness and longing as they always had, simply because it was Gilbert who had written them. For years after his brother had run away, Ludwig had been receiving these letters, but they had stopped abruptly when he was ten years old. What had happened afterwards? Why had Gilbert stopped writing? Had something gone wrong? Had Gilbert fallen ill or gotten hurt? Ludwig supposed it didn’t matter; no matter the cause, he’d never heard from his brother again. And that was the thing that saddened him the most. For almost a century, he’d searched blindly, with only dreams and infrequent advice from magi as his guide, as proof that Gilbert was even alive. Would he ever succeed? And what would he do if he did? How had Gilbert survived for this long, anyway? Had his time frozen, as Ludwig’s had? Or was it possible that his brother had continued aging, and was now an old man? Or maybe…could Gilbert be something else entirely? He sighed in confusion.
But Ludwig’s musings were abruptly cut off as he heard a voice from the other side of the fountain, “Who’s there? Show yourself! I can hear you… Don’t try to hide.” From the corner of his eye, he could see a sword drawn, but he didn’t draw his own. He wasn’t looking for a fight.
Ludwig didn’t even look up as he set Gilbert’s letters aside. “Good, gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man,” he replied, running his fingers through his hair. And when he finally did look up, he was astonished at the man standing before him. Silver hair, red eyes, pale skin… It all looked so…familiar… It looked like…Gilbert…
“Who are you?” he finally had to ask.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A/N: Yes, Ludwig’s line is stolen from Romeo and Juliet, the scene with Romeo and Paris in the Capulets’ vault.
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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Mar 22, 2010 22:27:21 GMT -5
Silence fell over the plaza as Gilbert stared at the young man in front of him. The other was his junior, of that he was sure, but there was something else about him that threw the albino off. From the blond hair to the blue eyes, everything about the youth was familiar, and something in the Prussian's stomach plummeted. This person, this man, looked exactly as he imagined his little brother would have looked like all grown up. The thought made the corners of his eyes sting, but he ignored the feeling and stepped forward, raising his sword higher.
"I asked first," he said in a commanding tone. "Give me your name, and maybe I'll give you something more than 'herr Awesome'." Despite the joking words, his tone hadn't softened in the slightest, and the lack of response was starting to annoy him. Not many people would react so calmly to a sword in their face; and to spew petty poetic lines like the blond had at the very least... it was bizarre.
"Look," he stepped forward, "Just tell me why you were watching me and I'll..." he trailed off, staring at the paper in the younger man's hands. The moonlight shone down upon the paper, making the script-like writing on the parchment easy for him to read, even upside down. His stomach had leapt again, this but time, it was an elated, hopeful, and yet, disbelieving feeling. That was his writing, his letters, they ones he had sent to....
"L-Ludwig?" he sputtered, dropping the sword in shock. "Ludwig... is that... brother?" But... it's impossible. My brother... Ludwig should be...
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Post by Ludwig Weillschmidt on Apr 1, 2010 11:37:48 GMT -5
"Herr awesome?" A bit arrogant, no? But Ludwig supposed he ought not to comment, taking into account the sword in his face. After all, Ludwig prided himself in being an intelligent man, and challenging a man with a sword did not seem like a particularly intelligent course of action. "And I was not watching you, sir, I-"
Ludwig never finished telling the strange man what he had been doing, for the next words stunned him into silence. "Ludwig...is that...brother?" Brother? What was this? He only had one brother, one who certainly could not be this young? Gilbert was born upwards of a hundred years ago; this man looked only a few years Ludwig's senior! This couldn't be right!
Ludwig's stoic exterior fell. "Y-yes...it's true that my name is Ludwig...b-but you can't be my brother...t-there's no way..." Yet, something in his heart ached at the sight of this man, and he wanted to believe that he had finally found his brother. But he had to be logical. He had to know the truth.
"But..if you really are my brother...then your name must be Gilbert...and you must have written these, right?" he said, holding out the yellowed papers for the other to see.
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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Apr 1, 2010 20:53:45 GMT -5
"Liebes Brüderchen," Gilbert began, not bothering to look at the pages he was being offered as he took a step forward. "I'm sorry for running away... I know that mama and daddy don't want me there. They love you most, but that's okay, because you love me most, right? We're brothers after all, and I took care of you! I wanted to give you a hug before I ran away, but you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up because we were up last night playing games again. That was a lot of fun, huh? Someday, I'll be super awesome and mama and daddy won't have a reason to hate me anymore and I'll be able to come back. I promise, and I've never broken a promise to you before..." Pausing, the Prussian took another step forward. "...Someday, we'll play games again and have lots of fun. Believe in the awesome me! I love you, Westen! Even more than mama and daddy! Brother's love is much cooler, anyway.... Gilbert."
The words seemed childish in comparison to how Gilbert was able to speak now, but they'd played over in his mind more times than he could count. The first letter that he'd left on Ludwig's bedside table before he ran away from home, and for a seven year old, he had to give himself credit for not sounding like a complete fool. There had been countless times he'd prayed to a God he wasn't even sure that he believed in to be sent back in time, if only for a moment, to tear the letter up and keep himself from ever leaving. To tell himself that it would be pointless to leave, and that he was condemning himself to a life of solitude and loneliness... but then he'd met Roderich and things had changed, if only slightly. But now... now...
"Westen?" the old nickname sounded almost foreign on his lips, and it was only the dull hope that maybe, just maybe, this boy was truly his brother that he tried it. His pale hand rose awkwardly, stopping halfway between himself and the blond, a look of unease on his face. Part of him was convinced that the moment he moved closer, Ludwig would disappear and it would all turn out to be a cruel dream, yet he hadn't had a single dream in years, making that idea impossible. Which only left... "You're.. but..." How...?
Part of him wanted nothing more than to run forward and sweep the boy in front of him into his arms, but another told him to keep still. Sudden movements in situations like this were dangerous; if he did the wrong thing, he risked losing the blond forever. For now, he simply kept still and waited, allowing the other to make the first move. --------- A/N: I seriously want to cry... I had an AWESOME reply written up and it was lost somehow. *sob* It was long, too... Stupid... evil... forum!
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Post by Ludwig Weillschmidt on Apr 17, 2010 16:39:06 GMT -5
Ludwig could only stare in awe as the man, Gilbert, recited the letter from memory, without even looking at the pages. But what was perhaps even more amazing was that there was not a single mistake. Ludwig, too, had memorized that letter after almost a century of reading the words to himself again and again, so he would have been able to pick out even a miniscule error. There was none. Was it possible? Could this man...really be his brother?
"Western?" That single word confirmed it. Western. His old childhood name, bestowed upon him by Gilbert, for a reason Ludwig had never quite understood. It had never quite made sense, but it had always felt...right, so he had allowed his brother to use it. But only his brother. In fact, Gilbert may have been the only person in the world to know that Ludwig even had a nickname. Even his parents hadn't known; both children had been rather tight-lipped around their parents. So, if this man knew that name, then he must be...
"Gilbert..." Ludwig whispered hoarsely, the sheer shock having stolen his breath. He wanted to say something more, make up for all the lost time, rejoice that his quest was finally over, but all the German could think was Gilbert! Gilbert! Gilbert! This couldn't be happening; it just couldn't. It simply wasn't logical for Gilbert to remain in his youth for this long, but at that moment, Ludwig wasn't too keen on exercising his over-analytical habits. He was just trying to wrap his mind around this...this man...his brother...
He wasn't sure he wanted to reach out to the hand he was being offered; what if Gilbert disappeared? What if none of this was even real? What if it was all too good to be true? But, even if it was, then he had to find out, right? He couldnt' run away from the truth, no matter the pains it might bring him. So he reached out to touch his brother's hand. And it was real. Gilbert was solid, and Ludwig's fingers found purchase on the other man's hand.
And the moment they touched, Ludwig knew it was all true. This had to be Gilbert. The touch felt so...familiar. Ludwig was usually not one to believe in "feelings," but this time he did. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he knew. "They didn't hate you, Bruder," he murmured. "Mother and Father never hated you...They were sad when you left..."
But, still, not all questins had been answered. "But, Gilbert, I still don't understand. How are you...you know..." He couldn't bring himself to say alive, so he decided, "so young?" would suffice.
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A/N: Hey, Gilbert, I'm sorry, but my replies will come at very irregular (and non-deadline-meeting) times until the end of April. Explanation: I had stuff to do, I procrastinated, and now I'm paying for that decision. So, yeah...Just thought I'd give you a heads-up.
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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Apr 21, 2010 10:20:35 GMT -5
All the hate and contempt that Gilbert had built up for his past seemed to disappear. His brother was here, standing in front of him, and holding his hand. Every wish he'd ever made to be able to go back in time, to make things right with the only member of his family he'd ever cared for suddenly seemed to come true all at once. He'd spoken to Roderich so many times about the brother he'd loved and lost, but to have him thrust back into his life without reason or warning... he didn't know what to do.
"...West..." A strangled noise tumbled from his throat and he moved forward, pulling the blond into a tight hug as he fought back the tears blurring his vision. Ludwig had grown up so well; he could easily feel the German's toned muscles and strong chest and all he could think was how grateful he was that the younger seemed to be doing so well (despite having shown up almost 200 years after when he should have been dead). "Idiot," he murmured. "Why I'm still alive and young? I could ask you the same thing! Y-you're human! I can hear your heartbeat... I can feel it. How... how are you here? West... you should he dead."
---- A/N: It's okay~ Like I always said, homework and life comes first and there are much more important things than this forum. Just a note for you: "Westen", I believe, is German for "Western". "West" is the normal nickname Gilbert uses for Ludwig, but "Westen" is the long version. Sort of like Ludwig versus Ludo.
Sorry my reply is so short...
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Post by Ludwig Weillschmidt on Jun 3, 2010 8:54:33 GMT -5
For once, Ludwig didn’t pull away from the unexpected contact; he embraced his older brother, not even frying to suppress the tears he felt sliding slowly down his cheeks. Could this really be happening? Oh, Gott, this felt like a dream, the same hopeful dream he’d been clinging to throughout his hopeless search.
Wait, not a hopeless dream, he reminded himself. It wasn’t a hopeless dream, anymore, now that Gilbert was here…alive… he looked his brother over as best he could, taking in all the sharp features, softened as they were by tears, and he felt an overwhelming surge of nostalgia. This man looked hardened, even scarred, but he was still so perfectly Gilbert, the strong older brother Ludwig had admired and looked up to as long as he could remember…
He was so engrossed in pure joy that he almost didn’t hear Gilbert speak, but he snapped back to reality in time to catch the gist of the question. Oh. Well, of course his curse would arouse his brother’s curiosity. After all, lack of aging was not exactly common for a human.
“It’s a long story,” he replied. “I’m just as mortal as anyone else; that’s true, but…” He trailed off, not knowing how best to explain his situation. Eventually, he decided to just tell the truth, without any sugar-coating. “I never aged beyond twenty years. One night, I met a man in the streets, and he…cursed me, if that’s what you want to call it. So, now I can’t age anymore.
“That’s all right, though,” he continued to head off the concern he knew was coming. “It kept me alive to find you, so it’s all right.
“But what about you, Gilbert? You haven’t aged, either, and I don’t’ sense a curse like mine… Bruder, are you…” It didn’t seem right to question his brother’s humanity aloud, so he fell silent. Hopefully, Gilbert would understand.
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A/N: School is utterly killing me, but I found an extra bit of time to post. Still on hiatus until the 14th, though. Off hiatus early!
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Post by Gilbert Weillschmidt on Jun 14, 2010 23:49:42 GMT -5
Stopped aging...? Gilbert thought with a small frown. He couldn't remember having ever heard of a curse that simply stopped the aging portion of human life and somehow managed to keep the mortality in-tact as well (and he had a decent knowledge of various forms of magic.) The brother within him didn't want to complain, after all, he had his little brother back; the precious and most dear member of his family who he had regretted leaving everyday... but it was that same brother within that wanted to hurt whoever had caused his younger sibling the grief of being stuck in an unending cycle for so long.
“But what about you, Gilbert? You haven’t aged, either, and I don’t’ sense a curse like mine… Bruder, are you…”
The Prussian winced, hoping that the question of his own mortality would have come much later. He'd just gotten Ludwig back, it wasn't fair to think of the overwhelming threat that the other might leave after knowing the truth... but the German had been honest with him. Wasn't it only fair to return the favour? After all, he'd spent all this time searching for him, the least he could do was offer the blond the truth, even if it did end up sending him away. There was always hope.
"...Why don't we talk somewhere more fitting?" he asked quietly, pulling back slowly to brush the back of his hand over Ludwig's cheeks affectionately as he wiped away the younger's tears. "I have a house nearby, and... my housemate is probably having a fit that I'm out so late and didn't say anything to him about it." A small smile graced Gilbert's features as he tried to look positive. His skin must have felt like ice compared to Ludwig's, and the fact that he lacked a pulse suddenly seemed like an obvious sign that screamed for attention. Did he... not notice either? Maybe it's easier that way... I don't... really know. --------- A/N: Oh? Are you? That's pretty awesome. :3 Welcome back, I guess...? *has been busy on an off, herself*
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